I highly recommend this game. the latest patch has thrown the factions wide open. a major issue with the last version was the total dominance of Tyranids over all other races due to the power of their early units, with Space Marines following a close second with the power of tactical AT and assault marines.

Equally frustrating was the strength and rejuvenation of the various shields employed by Eldar war heroes if they were allowed to amass enough power. Orks are tough and competitive but haven't received the same criticism on balance issues.

The latest patch has been a deliberate attempt by Relic to change the metagame in particular by lengthening the game due to the cost of early startup units add-ons.

There will be more balance change to come but I welcome this interesting experiment.

As with most recent RTS, while the single player campaign is fun, the complexity of multi-player and the evolving metagame is where the real enjoyment comes in.

Metagaming is a broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.

In simple terms, using out-of-game information, or resources, to affect one's in-game decisions.

"Adapt to balance changes". The players learn the new rules then learn to exploit them to their advantage. please don't be a dumbs***.

A great example can been seen from two replays i recently watched on gr.org where in the first an Eldar player opened with 2 guardians and one banshe then used warp spiders, which under the last patch were seldom used.

The second replay saw the Eldar player skip tier 2 all together and went straight to 2 fireprisms. Both openings showed great innovation and development of the metagame.